The Nightmare's Grip
by Xiaberri
Summary: A year after Hicca's return from the dead, a new enemy appears. This one is another one of Loki's cohorts, but he is not a demon-rather, he is something new, and something old. Nightmare is a male banshee. And he has his own method of destruction-possession of a human body.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Here's the sequel to "Life After Death" I've been working on. I hope this works out well. **

**Enjoy!**

Toothless's merciless pounding on the roof woke me up that morning.

As always, at first I tried to ignore it and cover my ears with a pillow. But both Toothless and I knew that wouldn't work for long.

Finally, after much groaning and complaining, I rolled out of bed and got dressed. I ran a brush through my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail, then headed downstairs.

My dad was sitting at the kitchen table, eating porridge for breakfast. "Morning, Dad," I said as I got my own bowl, sitting opposite him at the table. He smiled at me. "Good morning, Hicca. Toothless wake you up?"

"As usual," I sighed. He chuckled before scraping up the last of his porridge and heading over to the kitchen wash bucket to clean it.

"Dad, I plan to go out flying with the others this morning. Is that okay with you?" It had been a little over a year since the whole ordeal with my death, and the demon. Ever since then, my dad had been _really_ overprotective, and at times it would grate severely on my nerves. But I tried not to argue. I knew he had good reason—_very _good reason, in fact—to be overprotective. So I always asked permission before going for a flight.

He looked up from his task, and for a minute I thought he was going to object.

"We aren't going far," I assured him. "We're just going to patrol the neighboring islands. See what's around."

"I don't know . . . ."

I bit back a retort, trying not to get frustrated. "Dad," I said. "It's been a year. The demon is dead. I'll be fine." I gave him a lopsided grin. "Besides, if anything does happen, you know Toothless and Astro will drag my butt back home."

Finally, he sighed. "I guess I can't keep you cooped up forever." He rubbed his eyes. "Alright, whenever you want to go out flying, you let me know first and tell me where you're going. And always be back before sunset."

I broke out in a wide grin. "Thanks, Dad!" I grabbed my helmet and headed for the door.

"Be careful," Stoick called after me. I stopped and turned to look at him. "I just don't want you getting hurt again," he said quietly.

I smiled and went over to hug him. "I'll be fine, Daddy. You know Toothless will watch out for me." I pecked a kiss on his cheek. "Love you." Then I headed outside and shut the door behind me.

As soon as I circled the house to find Toothless, a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind and lifted me of my feet. "Ah!" I shouted in mock terror. "What is this?!"

I was spun around to the left, and suddenly Astro was hugging me close to his chest, his hands on my hips. I giggled. "You are such an ass."

He grinned. "Yes, but you love me anyway."

"Unfortunately."

He laughed and leaned down to kiss me. It lasted for a few seconds before we finally broke apart. Smiling, I patted his chest as I said, "Come on, my dad said it was okay for me to patrol the islands with you guys today."

"Great!"

Toothless bounded down from the roof of the house, and Stormfly came up next to Astro. Just as we moved to mount, I heard footsteps behind me. Before I could turn around, something slapped the back of my neck and suddenly Ruffnut was running off towards the arena, laughing manically. The two of us had somehow started a finger-slapping battle a couple of days ago, and I guessed this was the latest attack.

"Gah!" I brought a hand up to my stinging neck. "Ruffnut!" I happened to glance down, where I spotted a small, flat stone. I grinned mischievously and picked it up. Bringing my arm back, I pegged it at Ruffnut's head. With a clang, it hit the back of her helmet and she face-planted into the dirt. I threw my head back and laughed as she sat up indignantly. "Hicca!" she shouted angrily.

"I won that one!" I yelled at her. A few village passersby laughed at our shenanigans. Astro simply shook his head. "I'll never understand your relationship with her."

I shrugged as I mounted Toothless. "She's the only girl my age, so we're actually good friends." I grinned evilly. "But that doesn't mean we aren't going to give each other a hard time."

When we finally got to the arena, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Tuffnut were waiting with their dragons. Ruffnut followed us in a minute later, casting a glare in my direction. I just smiled pleasantly back her.

"So, are we leaving yet?" Snotlout asked impatiently.

"Yes, we are leaving," I said. "We'll start with the southern islands first."

We spent several hours patrolling the islands. Every now and then, Toothless would land and I would add onto the map I was working on, which was growing substantially. We worked our way from the southern islands, to the east, and then up towards the north. Not many people had been to the northern islands before, so I was willing to bet that I would have plenty of new land to add to the map.

It was about two hours past noon when we came across a rather large island in the north. It appeared to be only a few acres smaller than Berk. It was covered with trees that cast dark shadows, and a thin layer of fog drifted a few inches above the ground. There didn't appear to be any inhabitants around.

"Creepy," Astro said as we circled the island to study it. "Reminds me of Breakneck Bog."

"I don't recall seeing this on any maps," I said. "Let's land so that I can mark it down."

We landed at the edge of a cliff that looked over the ocean. I noticed that the ground was hard and there was little grass around as I knelt to get out my map. The place gave me an uneasy feeling as I quickly drew what I'd see while we were in the air. I felt like someone was watching us, and I was constantly looking around. Even Toothless seemed slightly on edge—he curled his tale around me and sat up on his haunches, turning his head this way and that.

"Hurry up," Tuffnut said to me. "This place is freaky. I want to get out of here."

"Alright, I'm hurrying!" I quickly scrawled down a few more lines before folding up the parchment and putting it away. I stood still a moment, staring into the trees and listening. "Do you guys hear that?" I asked.

"Hear what?" Snotlout asked irritably.

"Exactly." I frowned. "I don't hear anything. There are no animal sounds, no bugs, no wind in the trees . . ."

"All the more reason for us to _leave,_" he replied. "Right now."

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the trees, and hit us like a physical blow. All of us took a step back, eyes wide with shock.

"Yep, let's go, let's leave right now, come on," Fishlegs had hopped back on Meatlug and was trembling nervously.

"Hang on!" Astro said, "We can't just leave! If somebody's in trouble we have to help them!"

"Did _you_ see any ships?" Snotlout demanded. "How could whoever that was have gotten here?"

"Maybe they had a dragon, like us."

"I doubt that! Our dragons are supposed to be a secret from the other tribes, remember?"

"So what if it's somebody from Berk?"

I stepped between them. "Shut up! I don't care who it is, but we need to go find out. Come on." I beckoned Toothless, and he followed me, somewhat reluctantly, into the trees.

"Hicca, what the Hel are you doing?" Astro shouted after me.

I stopped and turned to look back at him. "You said so yourself: we can't leave without trying to help this person. It sounded like a man. So let's go _find_ him, for shit's sake!"

He started to protest, but I had already headed deeper into the woods. I drew my sword and held it out in front of me. Ever since I'd come back home, the flames had reverted back to their normal orange. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. The blue-white flames had looked pretty cool to me.

Eventually Astro caught up with me, the others right behind him. When I looked at him, he smiled ruefully. "Can't have you doing something stupid all by yourself."

I grinned back, and we forged deeper into the trees, weapons drawn and out in front of us. We tried to move quickly but cautiously, while continuing to listen out for any signs of someone trying to sneak up on us.

After a while, we hit a sudden clearing in the trees. It was a perfect circle, about thirty feet in diameter. There was a crystal clear pond in the dead center, half as wide as the clearing. I couldn't tell how deep it was. I approached the edge of the water cautiously. "What's the deal here?" I wondered aloud.

"You think this is where the scream came from?" Astro asked as he came up beside me.

"I don't know." I looked up and cupped my hands around my mouth. "Hello?" I called. No answer.

"Great!" Snotlout was fiddling nervously with his axe handle. "No one here! Happy now?"

"Yeah, can we go yet?" Tuffnut asked.

I turned around to glare at the two of them—but before I could, something lashed out of the water, so fast I didn't even see it, and wrapped around my ankle. I shouted as I was yanked backwards, falling to the ground. Astro made a mad grab for my hand, but I was jerked backwards and dragged into the water, the surface quickly closing over my head.

**Dun dun duuuuuuun! Stayed tuned for Chapter Two! **

**(Don't worry, Hicca won't die again—just thought I'd put that out there.)**


	2. Chapter 2

Surprisingly, I wasn't that frightened, given the situation. Sure, there was something strong wrapped around my ankle, dragging me into the cold depths of a pond, and I didn't have much air in my lungs.

Mostly I was just pissed. Of _course_ something freaky and dangerous would try to kill me on the _same fucking day_ my dad _finally_ decides to give me some freedom. Once he heard about this, he would probably lock me up in my room and never let me out again.

A small part of my brain kept saying _Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit_, but I firmly ignored it. I'd lost my sword when I was dragged into the water, but I still had a dagger. I drew it and began blindingly slashing and whatever it was that was continuing to drag me deeper.

I cut myself a couple of times, but my dagger finally made contact with the object around my ankle. The blade cut deep, and I felt it tear through flesh, sinew, and hit bone. There was a muffled screeching noise, and the grip loosened. I kicked hard, dislodging the thing entirely, and began swimming as fast as I could for the surface. My lungs were beginning to burn, and that panic I'd held at bay finally seeped in. _Gods, how deep is this fucking pond?_ I couldn't even see the surface, it was so dark.

But wait—the dark was _moving._

A black mass hurtled towards me from above, and I caught glimpses of sunlight. I didn't know what it was, but I raised my dagger, preparing to stab it, when it was suddenly on me.

I stopped the dagger just in time as a pair of familiar paws clamped down my shoulders, and Toothless began hauling me back up towards the surface. With a loud splash, he broke the surface of the pond and dragged me out onto the ground with him.

I sucked in a ragged breath as I pushed myself onto my hands and knees, water streaming off me. I wiped the water out of my eyes and pushed my dripping hair back, which had fallen out of its ponytail.

Astro was suddenly in front of me, grabbing my shoulders and forcing me to look at him. "Are you okay?" he demanded loudly. "Are you hurt?"

I winced. "Thor, Astro, you don't have to yell. I'm fine." I looked over at Toothless, who was glaring down into the water and growling. "Did you see—" I was cut off when Astro pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. "Don't _do_ that to me!" he said.

"Hey, I didn't do it on purpose!" I gasped out. "Watch the ribs!"

"Sorry." He let me go and helped me to my feet.

"So, did you see what it was that grabbed me?" I asked again.

He shook his head. "It was too fast."

"So _let's go!_" Snotlout practically screamed. This time he didn't even wait for us as he jumped on Hookfang and took to the air.

"No argument there!" I was less than eager to stick around. I retrieved my sword from where it had fallen next to the pond, then mounted Toothless. We all headed home as quickly as possible.

* * *

As we landed back on Berk, I was dreading the moment I would have to explain to my dad as to why I was soaking wet, shivering, and had a bloody ankle.

I didn't have long to wait.

As soon as he'd seen us approaching, my dad had come to meet us. When he saw me, his eyes widened and he practically dragged me off of Toothless's back to examine me. "What happened?" he demanded, keeping a painful grip on my arms as his eyes ran frantically over me.

"Dad, I'm fine," I said as I tried to calm him. "We just had a run in with . . . something."

"With what?" His voice shook. "The demon?"

I gave an exasperated sigh. "No, not the demon." I paused, looking down at his hands on my arms. "Dad, you're hurting me."

He loosened his grip, only to drop down on one knee and grab my ankle to look at it. "What caused this?"

I put my hands on his shoulders. "Calm down, okay? Just come to the house with me so I can dry off and tell you what happened."

A few minutes later I had cleaned up and changed into dry clothes, and was sitting in the kitchen while my dad treated my cut up ankle. Astro was there too, as he'd been reluctant to leave my side.

Toothless sat beside me, his head in my lap. I scratched his ears and enjoyed the heat he gave off while I explained what had happened on the northern island. When I was finished, my dad stood up and opened his mouth to say something.

"You are not going to lock me up in my room," I quickly interrupted him. "That's not going to happen. I'll just jump out the window."

Despite himself, he laughed. "That's not what I was going to say."

"Oh. Well, good, then. I was worried for a minute there."

"I was going to say that you are not to go back to that island. Ever."

I let out a dry laugh. "I'll have no problem following _that_ order."

"You better not. What do you think it could have been?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I couldn't see anything."

"Could it have been some new species of dragon?" Astro asked.

"I don't think so," I said, shaking my head. "When I cut it, it felt fleshy, not scaly." We mulled over the possibilities in silence for a few minutes, but none of us could come up with any plausible theories.

Eventually, my dad had to go back to doing his chiefly duties. He was reluctant to leave, but before he did he turned to Astro and said, "Don't let her leave the house today."

My mouth fell open. "Are you serious right now?" I demanded.

"Yes," he said, looking back at me as he reached for the door, "I am very serious. You're going to stay inside for the rest of the day."

"_Why?_"

"You flew several miles in winter air while dripping wet! I don't want you to come down with something!"

I raised a finger. "Technically it's not even winter anymore. The snow melted."

"It's still cold outside!"

I let my head fall back and stared at the ceiling while I let out a loud, forceful groan.

"I don't want to hear it, young lady! You're staying inside until tomorrow! Got it?" He didn't even wait for an answer before slamming the door behind him. I just sat at the table, fuming.

Astro, to his credit, tried to keep a smile off his face. "You know he means well, don't you?"

"But he's so _irritating_ when he does!" I complained. Astro just laughed.

I finally sighed and let my anger slowly fade away. I knew my dad was right. It was still late winter, and I didn't want to catch the flu this year.

Almost unconsciously, I reached down and rubbed my leg.

Astro frowned. "Is your leg giving you problems again? I know that tends happens during the winter."

"No, it's fine," I quickly lied.

But he knew me better than that. "Come on." He strode over to where I sat and picked me up, easy as you please. Toothless followed Astro as he cradled me in his arms, carrying me upstairs to my room and setting me down on the bed.

I looked up at him. "You didn't have to do that, you know."

"Yes, I did." He went over to my desk and opened a draw, pulling out a small, clay jar of numbing ointment Gothi had given me. "I knew it would hurt you to walk up the stairs." He came back over to me and gently reached for my prosthetic leg. He looked up, silently asking for permission. I bit my lip before nodding.

He carefully undid the straps that attached the prosthetic and slowly removed it. I hissed through my teeth as it came away, the pain blooming. I glanced at the stump, but looked away quickly. It had swollen up slightly and was red and puffy. I didn't want to look at it.

Astro removed the lid from the ceramic jar and a powerful, herbal smell filled the room. He dipped his fingers in the contents, and began applying it to the stump. I laid back on the bed and breathed heavily as he worked. Pain was shooting up through what was left of my leg, and I shut my eyes against it.

Finally, the ointment did its job and the stump began to go numb. I exhaled gratefully. "Thank you," I whispered.

Astro closed the jar and put it back up, before climbing onto the bed next to me. I let him pick me up and hold me close to his chest. I listened to the steady thumping of his heart. It was relaxing.

* * *

Astro looked fondly down at Hicca as she slept. She always looked so vulnerable when she was asleep. Usually, she had a fierce glint in her eye and had a slightly guarded expression. Even though it had been five years since the last time the teens had been cruel to her, old habits die hard. She was always reluctant to show any weakness, even natural ones that everyone has. It had taken Astro years to get her to finally start opening up to him, and even then she didn't share everything. He always felt a pang of guilt whenever he thought about the way he had treated her when they were kids. Ever since the battle with the Red Death, he had vowed that he would do everything in his power to make up for those long, cruel years.

Astro brushed a few strands of hair out of her face before taking her hand. He brought her slender, but calloused and strong, fingers up to his mouth and kissed them. Hicca smiled and relaxed against him more. He wrapped his arms protectively around her, resting his cheek on the top of her head, and let his eyes close. "I will always love you," he whispered to her. "Always."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I meant to update yesterday, but we were out shopping for homecoming dresses all day. Please enjoy! **

I was returning from one of my flights with Toothless when I spotted Trader Johan approaching Berk. When he finally rigged up his boat at the docks, several people swarmed his vessel, looking through all the things he'd brought.

He had a few crates of scrap metal with him, which he let me buy for almost nothing. I was always looking for metal to melt down, and see what I could make with it. Gronkle iron was the best stuff to use, but it was hard to come by.

Astro bought a few chunks of something Johan called "chocolate." He said it was a type of candy that he got from a continent south of here. Astro shared some with me, and it turned out to be _the _most _delicious_ thing _ever_. I gave some of mine to Ruffnut, and she and her brother fought over it for hours.

At one point Johan was on one of his insufferable story rants while we looked through his goods. "—And I met this fellow who had been to Nightmare Island. He said that there were stories of a creature who lives in a pool at the center of the island, and it snatches its unfortunate victims and drags them into the watery depths, drowning them—"

Up until then, I had him tuned out. "Hang on!" I whirled on Johan. "Nightmare Island? Where is that?"

He blinked, surprised. "Well, it's not on any maps I know of, because it's supposed to be cursed . . . but I believe it's only a few miles north of Berk."

"And why did this guy you met go there if it's cursed?"

"Well, he had every intention of killing the creature, of course!"

"And did he?"

Johan shook his head. "Sadly, no. The creature attacked him, but he said it appeared to be injured and it didn't quite manage to drown him. It escaped and dove deep."

I pondered what he'd said. "You said it was injured . . . when did this guy go to the island, exactly?"

He cocked his head, thinking. "Only about a week ago, I believe."

My eyes widened. That was only two days after _I_ had been attacked.

"By the way," Johan was saying as he dug around in one of his many chests of things, "He gave me this to sell." He finally found what he was looking for and held it up. It appeared to be a thin piece of silver about two feet long and one foot wide. "It's called a mirror," he explained. The silver had been smoothed and polished until I could see my reflection in it. "He just gave it to you?" I asked. "It's beautiful. And it's _silver._ Seems like he would have sold it for a hefty price."

Johan shrugged. "I don't know why, he just said he didn't want it anymore. Would you like to buy it?"

I considered for a moment, then shook my head. "It's really nice, but I would have no use for it. Thanks anyway."

He nodded and turned to put it away, but then he paused. "You know what?" he said, turning back to me. "Take it. Free of charge." He held it out to me.

My eyebrows rose. "Really? Why?"

He shrugged. "Think of it as an early birthday present."

"My birthday isn't for another two months."

"I know. I won't be coming to Berk around that time, though, I have plans. So, I thought, why not give this to you now?"

I looked at my image in the metal. "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am, lassie!" He thrust the mirror in my direction. "Here, take it."

I was caught off guard a bit, but I took it from him. "Wow." I looked up at him. "Thanks, Johan."

"Of course!"

I frowned as he moved quickly away from me. Something about his demeanor was off. He seemed awfully anxious to get rid of the mirror, although I couldn't figure out why. Since when did Trader Johan have plans, much less two months in advance?

I quickly shook those thoughts out of my head. He'd given me a nice gift, and it wouldn't be polite to refuse. I tucked the mirror under my arm and picked up the crates of metal I'd purchased, and headed for the forge.

When I got there, I went inside to my desk and dropped my load, propping the mirror up against the wall. I picked up a list of orders I'd gotten lately and looked over it, thinking about what I could do with this metal. I circled a couple of things I planned to get done and got to work.

By the end of the day, I'd made a few daggers, a couple of swords, some axes, and a few saddles with a mix of metal and some leather I'd had at hand. I set everything aside and labeled which ones would go to who, then set about delivering the items.

I got done in half an hour. I returned the wheel barrow I'd been using to the forge and slowly headed home, carrying the mirror with me. The sun was setting, and I was eager to get something to eat.

Before I went inside, I walked around to the back of the house and set the mirror down again before removing my armor and my shirt, so that I was just in my undergarments and my pants. I shook my hair out of its ponytail and dunked my head into the water. Flinging my dripping hair back, I sighed with relief as the liquid cascaded down my skin, which was hot and burning from work. I splashed some more water over my torso, then took my pile of hair in my hands and wrung it out. Toothless, perched on the roof, looked down at me and huffed. I glared back up at him. "You realize that you can go catch your own fish, right?" He just made an irritated noise. _Hurry up!_ he seemed to say.

I rolled my eyes. Reaching for the ladle that stuck out of the barrel, I flung water up at him, splashing him across the nose. He shook his head indignantly and turned away from me, pouting. "Pout all you want," I said, "but I'm not getting you anything."

Of course I caved and got him a basket of fish.

* * *

My dad was late getting home, so I left a pot of hot soup over the fire to keep it hot for him when he finally did. Walking upstairs, I let the air whoosh out of my lungs as I collapsed onto the bed. I laid there for a few minutes, my legs hanging off the edge as I stared up at the rafters.

Toothless eventually flew in through the widow, which I'd left open. He came over to me and butted my hand until I scratched his head. I sat up while I did so, then set about changing into a clean pair of undergarments to sleep in.

When I turned around after I was done, I looked at Toothless with amusement. He was in front of the mirror, which I had propped up against the wall across from the bed. His eyes were narrowed, and his teeth were bared slightly. He wasn't quite growling, but he looked on edge.

I couldn't help but giggle. "Who is that, Toothless?" I asked. "Who is that in the mirror?" He ignored me and continued to glare at himself. I shook my head, smiling as I climbed under the covers. He would figure it out eventually.

I slept fine until somewhere around midnight.

I was slowly awoken by a sound. It wasn't my dad's snoring, which I personally believed could wake the dead. It wasn't Toothless, either—he'd finally curled up on his bed and fallen asleep. It was humming. Very faint, but audible in the intervals between my dad's snores. It was low, melodic. When I first heard it, I thought vaguely to myself how lovely it sounded. It wasn't eerie or spooky at all.

But it sure was when I located the source. Then it immediately became creepy as all Hel.

I sat up in bed, straining to hear. Moonlight filtered in through the cracked window, casting just enough light to see once my eyes adjusted. I pulled a knife out from under my pillow, one with a slightly curved blade about seven inches long. I'd made it and started sleeping with it ever since my encounter with the demon. Holding the hilt in a white knuckled grip, I slowly got out of bed and crept forward. The humming was definitely the product of vocal cords, I could tell that much now.

The humming came from the mirror.

Frowning, I cocked my head and stared at my puzzled reflection. _What the Hel?_ I didn't see anything unusual about the mirror. As soon as I'd focused on it, the silver had stopped humming.

My heart pounded nervously in my chest as I pondered what I should do. In the end I simply grabbed a blanket and covered the mirror, tucking the cloth around the edges. There you go, creep, I thought with a healthy dose of self-derision. Let's see you get past that. Forget brick walls or iron—I had the best protection a fabric could offer. I snorted at myself and climbed back into bed.

* * *

The next morning I went to the Great Hall for breakfast. Every weekend, the teens and I met up there for every meal. Every other day we were usually out busy doing our own thing, but on weekends we had some free time. So, whenever we ate together at the Great Hall, we spent most of the time just hanging out and acting stupid.

I was the first to arrive. I was carrying the silver mirror with me, as I'd refused to keep it in my house after the humming. I was a bit embarrassed—I mean, come on, who's afraid of a sheet of metal? But there was no one in sight at the moment, so I seized the opportunity and spent a few minutes hanging the mirror on the wall, next to the portraits of all the past chiefs and their heirs.

I got done just as the doors opened and Astro entered. "Hey, babe," he called across the hall.

I smiled back and went to meet him. "Hey." I gave him a quick kiss.

He happened to look up past me, and saw the mirror hanging on the wall. "What's that?" he asked.

"It's a mirror," I explained. "Trader Johan gave it to me yesterday morning, calling it an 'early birthday present.' I thought it would look nice in here." The last part wasn't a complete lie. It did look nice in here.

Astro strode over to it and studied his image. "That's pretty cool," he agreed. He absently raised a hand and brushed it through his hair. I couldn't help but laugh. "The primping has begun!" I announced. He blushed slightly but grinned.

When the others finally showed up, they all took turns looking at themselves and commenting on the mirror. Snotlout especially enjoyed it. If it suddenly went missing, it would probably show up in his house.


	4. Chapter 4

We were having our evening meal in the Great Hall when it happened.

Astro and I were sitting next to each other with our backs to the wall, as we always did. Ruffnut sat on the other side of me, with Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Snotlout opposite of us. The dragons sat with us, either sleeping or trying to get free food from the table.

But suddenly, every single one of the dragons' heads snapped up at the same time. Those of us sitting at the table ceased all conversation, caught by surprise.

"Toothless," I asked, "What it is?" He swiveled his head around to look at the mirror, as did the others. Their haunches rose, and they began growling deep in their throats. I felt slightly sick. The last time they had done that, a demon had murdered me. I squinted at the mirror. My breath caught when something flicked across the surface. "Did anyone see that?" I asked quietly. No one answered. They were all staring.

Then I heard the humming again. Once again, it was quiet lovely—low, melodic. But it was louder this time, and it continued to emanate from the mirror even as all of us stared at it. Slowly, I got up from the table, drawing my curved blade from my calf sheath.

I approached the humming mirror, one step at a time, and swallowed down my fear. I came to stand in front of the sheet of silver—and what I saw wasn't my reflection.

Glowing eyes, silver like the moon and stars, blinked lazily back at me. Long, curved claws flexed on the other side of the mirror. Flesh, darker than the scales of a Night Fury, stretched over a creature that crouched, perched on the bottom edge of the mirror, the claws holding the sides to balance. Everything I saw on the creature was smooth ebony—except for its fangs. They were curved, silver as the eyes, and would make a Thunderdrum piss the ocean. And when it spoke, its voice was low and melodic, just like its humming had been. "Hey there, li-ttle girl," came the molasses-coated purr. "You don't look like much. But then again," it chuckled, "When you've lived as long as I have, you learn to never underestimate your enemy . . . or the tools you use to destroy them." A forked tongue flickered, and then the creature lunged.

With a yell, I threw myself back and raised my knife. The thing's fangs clanged off the blade, and then it rolled over my head. I flipped over and got to my feet. By this time, the others had grabbed their weapons and run over to help. The dragons surrounded us, providing no escape for the creature.

Or so we thought. With a malicious grin, the thing ran straight up the damn wall. It kept going up until it perched at the corner where the ceiling and the wall met. It hung there like a goddamn spider, looking down at us. "You know, it took me a while to get here," it said. "I had to wait for some bastard with a ship to show up, and then I had to go through all the trouble of finding an object to possess. Lucky for me, this particular bastard had some silver. Silver is nice—but you know what my favorite thing is?" It bared its fangs. "A body."

It leapt off the wall and fell down towards us. Toothless fired off a plasma blast, but the little shit was _fast._ It dodged easily, midair. The shot hit the wall instead, putting a hole in it.

The creature hit the ground—and tackled Astro.

Astro's axe was knocked out of his hand and went skidding across the floor. "No!" I screamed as I ran towards him. Astro tried to punch the creature, but black claws pinned his fists to the ground. The round head lowered down next to Astro's ear and whispered something, the forked tongue flickering over his ear. I couldn't hear what it said. But Astro's eyes grew wide, and he let out a loud, wordless scream of pure terror.

Stormfly roared and flicked her tail, sending spikes flying towards the creature. But it simply picked up Astro and threw him across the hall until he crashed into a table, then leapt after him—all with blinding speed.

Astro lay stunned, groaning. The creature landed on top of his chest, regarding him for a moment. And then it went inside him.

Ebony skin blended into human flesh, sizzling and bubbling as it did so. Astro's back arched, his eyes rolled back in his head. Foam gurgled up from his mouth. He clawed at the floor, his nails carving into the wood.

Someone was screaming. Then I realized it was me. I ran towards my boyfriend as he writhed on the floor, trying to cry out but failing. I fell to my knees next to him. I grabbed him, not caring that the bubbling flesh burned my hands like acid.

An arm wrapped around me from behind, and I screamed in rage as it dragged me away from Astro. I sank my teeth into the hand in front of me, and someone cursed. But they didn't let go. Other people grabbed my arms and my clothes, dragging me backwards. I continued to scream and hit them as I tried to get back to Astro.

And then, suddenly, he relaxed. He sighed slowly as he lowered himself back flat on the floor. I froze, and the people holding me back froze too. "Astro?" My voice shook.

He sat up slowly, looking down at himself. He raised a brow and shook his head before standing. He wiped away the foam and saliva that had bubbled up out of his mouth and stretched. "Ah," he said as he did, "It's been a while since I've been inside a human body."

"Astro," I said it louder this time. He turned to look at me, and I wanted to vomit.

His eyes, which used to be a deep, crystal blue, where now bright as silver.

The corners of his mouth twisted in a smile that did not belong on Astro's face. "Why hello, Hicca dear."

"Get out," I growled. "Whatever you are, get out of him."

"What am I?" the creature raised Astro's hand to his chest, put a hurt look on his face. "I would much rather you ask _who_ I am." It didn't wait for a reply before it continued, "'Nightmare' it is . . . or 'banshee.' I go by both. Not that you'll know who I am. I don't get a lot of time in any stories or books. Female banshees, the whiny bitches, are all over the place. But me? Their humble brother, one of the few male banshees in existence? Jack shit, that's what I get. For a creature of my talents to be toiling in relative anonymity, it's a crying shame."

I bared my teeth, growling. "Give. Him. Back."

With a smirk, Nightmare shook Astro's head. "You look just like a dragon. If it were me, I'd keep you alive for kicks. But, business before pleasure. After Loki's first little demon failed to kill you all, the honor fell to me." He strode over to Astro's battleaxe and plucked it off the floor. Turning back around, he faced me. "Goodbye, Hicca." He drew his arm back and hurled the axe at my head.

Me and the people behind me all dove out of the way just in time, the blade whistling right over our heads. "Get him!" I screamed. "Get him, but don't hurt Astro!"

All the commotion must have attracted several people, because I saw my father, Gobber, Spitelout, and several others take off after Astro. But Nightmare simply smiled and shook Astro's head. Then he turned and ran up the wall towards the hole Toothless's plasma blast had made, and punched his way through the already splintered wood, making it big enough to fit through. Nightmare jumped out, and disappeared into the night.

***evil laugh***

**Please review, I would love to have some feedback on what you think of Nightmare :)**

**Wow I just realized that was really morbid of me to put a smiley face after that statement**


	5. Chapter 5

**Just to clear up a couple of questions, Nightmare is indeed one of Loki's servants. Since Hicca killed the first demon, Nightmare was next in line to go after the people of Berk. But he's not a demon, he's just a breed of monster. **

**As for Astro . . . will he be okay? I don't know! You'll just have to read on and see! **

**And as always, please review. Reviews are always a good boost for my morale **

Nightmare ran away from the village, nothing but a blur as he zipped through the trees. He ran until he came to a cliff overlooking the ocean, where he stopped to watch the waves pound the rocks down below. Humans were such fragile creatures, he thought to himself. A fall from here, only one hundred and fifty feet down, would kill them instantly.

For him, that was nothing. Maybe a few cuts and bruises on the rocks, but other than that? Please.

Nightmare squinted as he studied the cliff face. About halfway down, there was a ledge jutting out from a cave. He couldn't tell how deep the cave was, but he'd find out.

Gathering the boy's legs under him, he jumped easily down to the ledge. Normally, this body would suffer severe injuries—but with Nightmare here, it would be fine.

He found the cave to be almost twenty feet deep, the ceiling high enough to stand in. This would be a good place to stay while he settled into this body. Even now, he could feel the boy's mind weakening. Nightmare smirked in satisfaction as he sat down, back against the wall. He leaned the boy's head back and closed his eyes, listening to the surf.

The cold didn't bother him. Heat wouldn't bother him either. He'd been around when the seas had boiled and the air was sulfur—as well as the times when the sea was solid and the air was ice. He'd been around before humans even existed, back when they were just hairy creatures swinging through the trees and throwing their shit at each other.

In fact, he'd been around before any god ever existed. The only reason he agreed to work for Loki was simple—you always joined the winning side. Loki was a god. He and his demons could squash the humans like insects, and they fully intended to do so as soon as they found a way to free Loki. Of course, that would probably take a while.

But that wasn't a problem. Nightmare was a patient being.

But what _was_ a problem was this vile thing the humans called _clothing._ Nightmare squirmed irritably as cloth and metal rubbed his skin. Why did the little bastards feel the need to cover themselves up like this?

For a moment, he considered ripping the clothing to shreds. After all, the Celts charged into battle completely naked. That didn't sound like such a bad idea. Fuck the boy's dignity. He was as good as dead. He had no need for it anymore.

But then Nightmare thought better. It would probably be difficult to fight with the boy's junk dangling all over the place. At least clothing had one good purpose.

* * *

I sat on the floor, reclining against Toothless. He'd wrapped his tail around me and rested his head next to my lap. My legs were curled under me, my head tipped back as it rested on Toothless's side. Firelight danced on the other side of my closed eyelids. My cheeks were wet from tears.

After Nightmare had escaped, I tried to go after him. But my dad grabbed me before I could mount Toothless and dragged me kicking and screaming all the way to the house. Toothless growled ferociously at Stoick, but he only ignored the dragon as he shouted for Gothi. When the old woman showed up, she wacked me over the head with her stick until I drank the mild sedative she'd brought with her.

It didn't put me to sleep, just slowed the rush of adrenaline and made me drowsy. I was angry at my dad for not letting me go after Nightmare, and then going so far as to _drug_ me, rendering me incapable of sneaking out.

I heard the door open and the heavy footsteps of someone entering, but I didn't move.

"Hicca?" It was my dad. "Hicca, are you awake?"

I continued to remain silent.

He let out a heavy sigh, and I heard him drag a chair up behind me and take a seat. "I know you can hear me, Hicca. Please don't ignore me."

When I still said nothing, he began to run his fingers through my hair, which he hadn't done since I was six. "I'm sorry I had to do this, but I couldn't risk letting you get hurt."

"You don't have to baby me," I finally spoke up. "I'm not a child anymore."

"I know you're not." His voice cracked. "But after what happened last year . . . I couldn't bear the thought of losing you a second time. Almost the third."

I felt slightly guilty at what I'd said, but I was still upset. "But you let it get away. It took Astro." Fresh tears began to leak from beneath my eyelids. "What happened to him is worse than death. That thing—Nightmare—it _stole_ his body. What if Astro's still in there, still able to see and hear everything, but unable to control his own actions? What if he's in pain? What if—" I broke off as I choked. Lowering my head into my hands, my shoulders began to shake with quiet sobs. Toothless cooed and nuzzled my side, trying to comfort me. It didn't help much.

My dad moved so that he was crouched in front of me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Hicca," he said, his voice steadier this time, "I promise you that we will do everything in our power to get Astro back. And we _will_ get him back." He lifted my chin and looked me in the eyes. "Understand? _We will get him back._"


	6. Author's Note--IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ

**Hey guys! **

**I've got some news. I have decided to postpone my progress on this fanfic—but don't freak out, I AM NOT DISCONTINUING. **

**I simply have this terrible, terrible disease called writer's block! **

**For now I will only be working on my other fanfic, Something Wicked This Way Comes—I highly recommend that you check it out.**

**But as for The Nightmare's Grip, I've come to ask y'all a favor. If you're new to my story, I want you to read the other chapters, and then I want you and all of my wonderful followers to please either leave me a review or send me a private message with any ideas/suggestions you have for the continuation of this fanfic. **

**If there's anything you would like to see in coming chapters, or just anything you think would be a good idea for this story, tell me! **

**If I do end up using your idea/suggestion, I WILL give you credit for it.**

**So, please read and please be my personal advisors! I will love you forever!**

**:) **


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